Residents have complained that the sprawling 8th U.S. Army headquarters in downtown Seoul occupies prime real estate and worsens the city's chronic traffic congestion. Younger generations of South Koreans see the foreign military presence in their capital as a slight to national pride.

Officials gave no timetable for the withdrawal, reflecting persistent South Korean worries that any reductions would put it at greater risk of a North Korean attack. Most troops at the 8th U.S. Army headquarters in Seoul, 37 miles south of the border, also will move south.

The Korean border remains the world's most heavily armed. Most of the South's 650,000-strong military and the North's 1.1-million strong armed forces, the world's fifth largest, are deployed near the 2.5-mile-wide DMZ, which is guarded on both sides by barbed wire fences, mine fields and tank traps.

Most of the 37,000 U.S. troops in South Korea are stationed between the DMZ and Seoul, which is also within range of North Korean artillery.

For more than a few years, many Koreans and others living in South Korea have failed to appreciate the rather unique nature of being involved in a protector type relationship. Whether they understood it or not, many Koreans and others have disliked and opposed it. This continues to the present.

Two possible solutions come to mind for such a vexing problem for many Koreans and other wage earners in South Korea who dislike being protected, in some cases, free of charge, by the US military. The first would be for South Korea, a sovereign nation, to simply expel the U.S. forces from its soil. The second would be for the US military to voluntarily exit South Korea. It appears increasingly more likely events are moving rapidly in favor of the later, not the former.

In any event, should one or the other occur, South Korea will have the opportunity to demonstrate to its citizens and other wage earners in South Korea that it is fully capable of defending itself and them.

Younger generations of South Koreans see the foreign military presence in their capital as a slight to national pride.

Ha, I love that line. What don't the younger generations of South Koreans see as a slight to national pride?

Bottom line, they're ungrateful. The Americans should go home and worry about defending themselves, and leave the Koreans to their own devices. Maybe the realization of how much they've benefitted from the American presence will help to straighten out the youth of this country.

There should be a complete pullout.Let the young Korean men serve and put on the uniform to defend their own country.It 's often heard that we are a tripwire.Our soldiers should never be thought of as a tripwire for anyone.I think young Koreans should be willing to protect and defend their own freedom if they really want it.

South Korean men have mandatory military service, unlike in the United States, where the majority "serve" as a means to get job training or college educations, which are otherwise unaffordable. Here at least service is not class based.

What you "intelligent" people fail to realize is that Korea--scoff if you will--is a powerhouse producer and economy. Ever heard of Kia and Hyundai and Hanjin and Samsung? Why do you think the IMF gave them the biggest bail out loan in history? Because they liked them? No, sir.

America will never leave as long as their is a threat, nor does Korea want them to leave. It's bad for business. If Korea were ever taken by the North, which it won't be, it would send a tidal wave through the global economy. Although not as economically important as Japan, these people are quite the producers.

There are many koreans who get out of military service and others who get assigned to cake jobs ,so it it is class based you just dont realize that all militaries are.

Great, Korea is an economic tiger. So they should be able to get out of their responsibiliy to staff positions that protect their own country and we should be responsible for it? I think the young college kids have to much free time on their hands over there.We should use our troops for better jobs than being tripwires and our military is strong enough to handle any North Korean threat without ground troops in Korea.It does more harm to relations for both countries to have them there.

I've never heard anything so ridiculous. We've got two choices. It's plain and simple to anyone with a brain. Make a commitment to South Korea, or let Japan go nuclear and stand watchdog over the region. Well, we all remember what happened when Japan had a powerful military and took control of Asia. Lots of people died. We're staying. Get used to it, my friend.

We have made a committment and will stand by it.But that doesnt mean we need to have ground troops there.Especially, not as some kind of canaries in the mine.Watch closely if North Korea continues on its path Japan will go nuclear if they haven't already.Watch elections over here really closely.Focus on the last Tokyo elections do you know who won? If you dont we can drop the discussion now and you should do some more reading,if you do then you would know what Im talking about.

What you "intelligent" people fail to realize is that Korea--scoff if you will--is a powerhouse producer and economy. Ever heard of Kia and Hyundai and Hanjin and Samsung? Why do you think the IMF gave them the biggest bail out loan in history? Because they liked them? No, sir.

America will never leave as long as their is a threat, nor does Korea want them to leave. It's bad for business. If Korea were ever taken by the North, which it won't be, it would send a tidal wave through the global economy. Although not as economically important as Japan, these people are quite the producers.

Take a course in economics. You might learn something.

Yeah, Kia was such an economic powerhouse that it was bought out by Hyundai. Why did the IMF give them the biggest bailout in history? Because Korea needed the biggest bailout in history. I'm not exactly sure what your point was there.

But yes, America leaving the ROK would hurt South Korea in the short-term: the currency would take a big drop and the stock market would take a nose-dive. Unfortunately investors aren't foreign policy experts and don't really examine that kind of thing, so they'd panic and pull their money out of the country. Long term though? I'm not sure it would matter much. South Korea can defend itself quite easily; it doesn't need the USA or Japan. Kim Jong-Il might be a despot but I don't think he's crazy enough to attack the ROK- US army or no USA army presence here.

It's not a question of if he's going to attack the ROK. It's a much larger question. What is he going to do with those nuclear weapons. Who is he going to sell them to. Commitment to South Korea sends a strong message to the north. We will not be trifled with. By leaving, it plays into the North's hands, and we look weak.

Ive seen alot of presidents and cabinents/advisors come and go.Beleive me this administration is not looked upon or will be by anyone as being weak. If anything its in your face aggessive and Jr. in the North knows it. He is being watched very closely and anytime he steps out of line the washington beltway cowboys will make him pay dearly for it.I bet hes(JR.) ready to cut some kind of deal just to get these guys off his a**.